Automatic piano-player.



S. A. SWANSON. AUTOMATIU PIANO PLAYER. APPLIUATION TILED FEB. 11, 1 907.

Patented Nov. 17, 1908. 2SHBET8BHEET 1.

M W w x v w 4W f w\\ W W R k 9 H 1 1 3 l 8 .u m ,J 1 W J ya. I f m 299 1 w a w 1. J

s. A. swmsou. AUTOMATIU PIANO PLAYER. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 11, 1907.

Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lama rm, Inn, LII. mum-.1; I

even ofaminor' nature.

. UN ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

'SELVIYOR A. SWANSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO SAMUEL S. PORTER AND ONE-THIRD TO FREDERICK S. BRASOR, OE MARIETTA, OHIO.

AUTOMATIC PIANO-PLAYER.

No. 904,284. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

Application filed February 11, 1907. Serial No. 358,851. i

from the following description when taken Beat known that I, SELVIYOR A. Swanson, in connection with the accompanying drawa citizen of .theUnited States, residing at i n Whi h- Ch cago, in the countyof Cook and State of igure 1 is a vertical transverse sectional 111111018, have invented certain new and useew of a piano inc uding my im rovement, 6 111 Improvements in Automati Piano- 3 and Fi 2 is a partial sectional out eleva- Players, of which the following is a specition 0 Piano embodying the invention fication, reference being had therein-to the w the action pre ent d diagrammataccompanying drawing. really and certain parts of thecasing re- 'My invention relates to pianos, organs or a I a other musical instruments which are adapted l R ferl'mg now, to Fig. 1 in the drawin to be played manually or automatically and dqslgnates the Pedals, to be more has as its object t i lif d cheapen th hereinafter described, which operate the air construction, to lessen the space occupied by p p jg bgllbws 2 in his instance held to thehpneumatics and to improve generally th themia n wind chest 3 which is connected to 7 o ati i d vd bilit f; h inggputhe ordinary reservoir bellows 4. The reserments; A! j. q 1 I a voir bellows has an automatic valved air The inventiou ncom rises in its s ecifi i current regulator 5 and attached to the wind arrangement a, keyl ta 1e and the or {m l chest 3 IS the music sheet motor valve chest 6. piano action, toget or with tuned strings and L All Of these parts 2 6 ire'old and Well 75 asounding board, andaplurality of striking known 1n the art and need no further depneumatics controlled automatically by a SCI'IPUOH as hey relate merely to the air tra ker board nd n t h t d arranged 1 pumping mechanism which is necessary in in alternat r latio one above th th so L all such pneumatic constructions. The key that, for example, the operatin lever of the table 7 i of the u a c n i n has so neum ti i h 0 grates th t i h pivoted thereto the keys 8 connected by the merinthe treble is ocated above ands i htly bst acts 9 to the wippens 10 which operate staggered with relation to the operating ever I flctlqll hammers hro g the Well -of o n u ati ti th A t i known piano mechanism, so as to strike the humor, Th pumping b (ms i tili d a strings 12. These strings are carried. upon in connection 1th th i i d h t d the usual metallic frame 13 supported by thereservoir bellows to operate the mechanframe 1 nd have located behind them a ically driven note sheet rolls as is usual, and o g board 15- Each wlppen 10 18 proat'mospheric pressure is used to counteract l Vlded l ll l a jus ing rod 16 adapted'to be 35 the suction 1n rimaries and to operate 1 ng ged by the jacks 17 pivotally secured through the usual ufi n u ti th in upon a long1tud1nal supporting strip 18. valves whi h it tio t t. on th 4 Each str1k1 n pneumatic 19 is provided with main striking neumatics. The motor is v a pivoted l 1n gq secured at one end thereof,

, suitably governed so that it does not travel and this linkis comm to its. respective 40 any fasterwith" increased or any slower with 1 ack ll n any suitable maniier so that when decreased pressure. l the "pneumatic is colla sed it may tilt the To all whom it may concern:

jack upon its pivot an so operate the wip- Heretofore, instruments of this character pen to cause the hammer to strike the string.-

l have been so designed, with their pneumatics i horizontally arranged one above the other in i Th striking neumatics 19 are arranged 45 tiersi'thatltwas impossible'to mak th rone abovethe other and have their linkslO oughl reliable automatiwplayer in o bina- & arranged in staggered relation 50 that they ti "*with a manuahplayer, the wippen abstriicts Being so numerous and in some in- E stances siichlength as to render them i may be located within the casing and .occupy as small a s lace as is consistent with roper operation. 'ach pneumatic is sup lie with so unfifi for practical use,i1nd so complicating a primary and in practice all 0 he p itgltlil'l'iecllaiitilsm as to require experienced and 1 maries are made in two sections or tiers, each "work'ifien to attend to repairs 1 tier comprising an individual unit with a a 5*: rfa plurality of primariestherein. u My invention is designed to obviate these i The tracker board 21 is of the usual con- 55 diflieulties and will be better understood struction and has tubes 22 leading from each opening which tubes communicate with their respective primaries 23 so as to control the action of the exhaust for the Pneumatics 19. Each primary has an opening 24 governed by a vertical reciprocating valve 25 which normally closes and prevents access from the exhaust chamber 26 to the opening 24 which communicates with the neumatics. valve is provided with a vertical-rod rigidly connected thereto at one end and at the other to a pufl' pneumatic 27 bridged across the mouth of a channel communicating with the tube 22. A vent 29 communicates with the tube 22 and the chamber 26 so that when the valve is in a normal position there is suflicient leakage through the vent 29' to equalize the pressure in the tube 22 with that in the chamber 26. In Fig. 2 I have shown a number of tubes board 21 but in Fig. 1 I have shown only one of said tubes and have indicated it as passing through the upper primary, but with no communication therewith, and adapted to operate the lower primary. This is done to facilitate the reading of the drawing but it A Wlll' be understood that there isnoconnectionot vany tube 22 with more than one 'pri w mary, t

I have not illustrated any connection from the reservoir bellows 4 to the motor mechanism but this is a feature which does not play any part in my invention except asan operating-,connection of some sort must be provided although not necessary to illustrate and therefor not shown or' described herein.

VVhen' an opening in the note sheet 3-1 passes over an opening in the tracker board 21 atmospheric pressure from the outside passes down the pneumatic where thus operating the valve 25 to open the channel 24 and allowin the vacuum in the chamber 26 to deflate 51c pneumatic l9, operate the jack 17 which communicates its motion through the adjustin rod 16 to the wippen 10 and the striking ammer of the action. Instead of utilizing the jacks to operate the and do emas well for controlling a reed or ploy them,

for pneumatic playing organs,

pipe action and I contemplate such use as within the,

scope of the appended. claims.

In pianos and organsof the class just described it is necessary to utilize pumping pedals for operating the pumping bellows 2. ,Such pedals are usually cumbersome and unsightly as well as in the way when the de vice is not in use. A pair of pedals which may be folded in such a way that they will not obstruct or interfere with the use of the forte and pianissimo pedals 32 which areof the usual ty e and in the usual illustrated erein. The pumping pedals each comprise a supporting lever 33 pivoted at 34 to the underneath side of the This leading from the tracker I pipe 22 to its respective; it raises the diaphragm 27 position, are

gcther wit to said strings,

piano, and having at its outer extremity 3. lug or turn-up lip 35 to which is pivoted the foot piece 36 of the usual construction. Connected to this foot piece is a connecti link 37 removably engaging at its upper ,eiig a bell crank lever having fulcrum at 39 in a .bearin carried. by the main wind chest 3. The en of the bell crank lever opposite to that which is engaged by the connectin link 37 is provided with a friction roller 40 hearing against a wear plate 41 which has a cam face, and which is secured to the main pumping bellows 2. This cam face tothe action given the bell crank lever gives a difl'erential or multiplied movement. By disconnecting the link-,3? and folding it down alongside the foot piece 36 and by lowering the foot piece and the link so that they rest upon the lever 33 the entire pedal maybe folded laterally beneath the piano frame thereby giving clear accessto the pianopedals. i

It will be seen that by arranging the pneumatics vertically one above the other and staggering their operating links 20 I am enabled .to aim a great deal of space which has been ieretofore taken up-by the neumatics and their primaries when p aced horizontally and in tiers. By my construction the action is not only cleared but a more positive? operation is assu and a great many parts are dispensed with which were liable to disarrangement such as the wippen operating rods which were connected to the pneumatics and were in some instances extremely long and necessarily very light in construction. 7

Although Lhave shown and described a simple embodiment of my invention I do not wish to be limited to the special detailed construction illustrated as I mi' ht change the construction in practice and resort to many modifications without departing fromthe scope and spirit of the invention, as defined in the'appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1: In a musical instrument, the combination with a plurality oftuned strings and a player action therefor comprismg wippens and other operatingmechanism ,j-ofaplurality of pneumatlcsarranged in front of said player action, each being substantially parallel to said strings,operatin .connections between said pneumatics an the-wippens of said player action, and means for controlling the pneumatics.

2. In a musical instrument, the combination with a plurality of strings and operating devices t erefor comprisin wi other operating mechanism, of a p urality of pneumatics arranged in front of said operating levers, each being substantially arallel and operating connections be- 12s. pens and. n

tween said levers and the wippens of the operating connection devices.

3. In a musical instrument,'the combination with a plurality of strings, strikers therefor and wippens for said strikers, of pneumatics for operating said strikers and having staggered operating levers, each of said neumatics being substantially parallel to said strings, a plurality of jacks connect ed with said operating levers, operating con l nections between said jacks and the wippens, and controlling means for the pneuinatics.

4. In a musical. instrument, the combination with a plurality of strings, strikers therefor and wippens for said strikers, of vertical Pneumatics for operating said strikers arran ed one above the other in front of the strikers and having staggered operating levers, a plurality of jacks between the \vi nens and the o eratin levers and connected to the latter, operating connections between the acks and the wippens, and a tracker boa rd and note sheet for controlling I the neumatics.

5. In a musical instrument, the combination with a plurality of tuned strings,

strikers therefor and wi pens for said strikers, of a plurality 0 vertical pneumatics arranged one above .the other in 1 banks and having staggered operatin 'levers, jacks connected to said levers, a 11stable connections between the'jacks and said i Wippens, primaries for said neumatics, and l a tracker board and note sheet for controls ling said pneumatics through the primaries.

6. In a musical instrument, the combination with tuned strings and a player action therefor comprising wippens and other operating mechanism, of a plurality of pneunlatics arranged in tiers ne above the other, t operating arms connected vto the neurnatics,

t l l l l bell crank levers connected to t 1e wip ens, and connections between the arms an bell crank levers arranged substantially parallel to the wippens.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SELVIYOR A. SWANSON.

Witnesses t BURTON U. HILLs,

CHARLES I. COBB.

the 

